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MINDING YOUR
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| WALK
THE TALK By Mike Ashley |
Tom Wolfe's latest
tome, "A Man in Full," vilifies real
estate developers as greedy egomaniacs. But Gary
Fenchuk's book, "Timeless Wisdom,"
debunks that cliched image with, well, a bunch of
cliches. |
| You
see, Fenchuk the author and philanthropist also
happens to be Fenchuk the real estate developer. He is president and CEO of Richmond-based East West Partners, an award-winning development firm that had revenues of over $40 million in 1998. East West develops communities and resorts in Virginia -- including Woodlake, Brandermill, Foxcroft, Foxfire and Hampton Park -- and across the United States. For more than 30 years, Fenchuk also has been
building a collection of inspirational quotes on
"the art of living." Now he has
published more than 700 of them through his own
publishing firm, Cake Eaters Inc. "Timeless
Wisdom" has sold nearly 100,000 copies and
is almost ready for its fifth printing. |
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| Although 53-year-old Fenchuk
won't nominate a favorite saying from his book,
he offers a quotation from Sir Winston Churchill
that sums up his philosophy: "We make a
living by what we get, we make a life by what we
give." And Fenchuk is in the business of giving. The net proceeds from his book go to many charities, including the National Kidney Foundation, the Heart Association, the Thomas Cannon Benefit Fund and several educational institutions. But Fenchuk's philanthropy didn't start with the publication of "Timeless Wisdom." He established the East West Foundation in 1986, and more than $500,000 has since been distributed to charity. According to friends and business associates, Fenchuk didn't just compile the book on life's wisdom, he lives it on a daily basis. To motivate employees, Fenchuk took 80 of them to Cancun in March as part of an employee-incentive reward. "The secret to our business success has been the couple of hundred employees we have," Fenchuk says. "There's a Japanese proverb that says: 'If he works for you, you work for him.' I really believe that. You can't lose sight of the people out there on the front lines doing the heavy lifting to make you successful."
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